Nobody's Prize
by apollo122music
Summary: Hailie isn't a demigod, but that doesn't mean she can't be dragged into their world by a misunderstanding. OC/OC, a little Percabeth. rated T for teenage mutant ninja turtles.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The place you wouldn't expect to see something out of the ordinary is middle of nowhere California. But nothing is technically 'ordinary' either. So I wasn't really surprised when I was walking in Red Wood national park when I came across a group of girls wearing silver adidas style jackets, looking sort of lost, which I couldn't blame them; I was kinda lost myself. I just HAD to walk away from my family, didn't I? Of course! Even though I was just here for vacation, I went over to give my help anyways.

"Hey guys, need some help?" I asked, approaching the group of girls. One with light blonde hair and brown eyes stepped forward; she looked to be about thirteen, so about a year and a half younger then myself.

"Yes. Have you seen a girl walking around? She's my uh, little sister and we've lost her somewhere," she said to me. She may have looked thirteen, but the way she addressed me made me feel like she was a million years older then I.

"I'm sorry, I haven't. But if I see her, I'll let her know you're looking for her," I tell them and they thank me as I walk away in the direction I think the parking lot is.

As I walk, I let my mind wander to a touchy subject; Ben. Ben, in his own way is unlike any other boy I've met. He's really shy and quiet, but when you break through that barrier, he's the funniest person you've ever met, and I think i like him. Like, really like him. Others would call it being in love, but I can't be sure. What I mean is, we kinda have a thing, but we're not sure what to call it. He'll take me to the movies and hold my hand, put his arm around my shoulders and kiss me on the cheek, but at school he barely even talks to me. See, with his always naturally messy curly dark brown hair, tan-ish skin, and light brown -almost hazel- eyes, and general good looks, he's popular. But when it gets down to who he wants to hang out with on Friday nights, it'll always be me and my group of crazy, wacko, insane friends. I guess it's just like that, but whenever he passes me in the hallway he gives me a smile, and turns in the other direction. After that is usually when I get a text asking me if I want to go out for dinner and a movie or something like that. I almost always say yes because when else do I get to be with him? The real him, anyway. But I guess I just don't know what to do about this anymore.

I'd not really been paying attention when I walked into a girl no older then twelve wearing one of those silver jackets the other girls had been wearing. I immediately apologized for my clumsiness as I looked the girl over. She had long auburn hair and big dark blue eyes like the colour of the sky at midnight. I had not doubt that this was the girl the others were looking for.

"Hey, sorry again, but I ran into a group of girls about fifteen minutes ago that were looking for you. I think I can walk you back to where they were," I tell the girl. She looks a little taken back, but she shakes her head no,

"No, it is fine. I can find them myself. But thank you for informing me," she says to me. I nod and give her a small smile before starting to walk the way I was going, head down and hands In my pocket when I hear her voice again,

"Wait!" she calls. I turn to face her and see that she's jogging towards me. "You look like you have something on your mind. What is wrong?" she asks, gesturing towards a fallen red wood tree and takes a seat, waiting for me to do the same, so I do. The moment I sit down beside her, a motherly feeling eases through my body as she puts a hand on my shoulder, waiting for me to speak.

"Well, I normally wouldn't tell complete strangers about my personal life, but I guess I should tell someone," I admitted to the girl. She nodded, silently prodding me. "It's just that there's this guy, and we kinda have a thing, but only when we're by ourselves or with my friends. At school he ignores me almost completely, but when we're alone it's like I'm his entire world," I find myself telling the girl, who seems too old for her age.

She thinks a minute before responding,

"I don't really know what to say, but I think you should take this pamphlet and read through it. If you ever want to talk to me, just knock on your bedroom window 3 times at midnight, and I'll try and get there," she said as she got up and walked away, leaving me wondering what on earth she meant.

I opened up the pamphlet and was completely shocked. Inside there were pictures of the same group of girls, except this time they had their hair tied back, they were wearing silver parkas and matching pant like tights, wielding bows and quivers on their backs. Some pictures showed the girls shooting at something, but I couldn't really tell what it was because it was blurry. There were words too, but I think they were in like, Greek or something so I skipped those. Some of the paragraphs were also translated to English, though. I read through one, and decided that the girl had made this up as a way to fool people, because in this paragraph it explained how the Greek gods were real. I didn't believe one word, but I decided to tuck the pamphlet away inside my sweater and keep looking for my parents. Without realizing it, when I stood up from the log I was just inside the trail, which confused me because I surely hadn't been there before I sat down. I looked around and saw a note on the log beside me.

_You're not lost, Hailie. Just misguided._

_-Artemis_

It read. The only thing that could come to my mind at the moment was wondering how she knew my name. I looked around quickly and I could've sworn I saw a flash of silver in amongst the trees, but it could've been anything. At least, I think.

Driving back to the hotel I started to notice things that had seemed invisible before, like things I've never seen running through the trees. It kind of freaked me out for a while when I remembered what the pamphlet 'Artemis' gave me, and what it said about the Greek gods being alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so I was going to wait until tomorrow to update, but I'm too bored. I do not own anything except for my OC's and the plot. **

Chapter 2

I tried not to think about it for the rest of the trip and succeeded until we were just crossing the Washington state line to head back home to Seattle and we stopped at a rest stop. It was a normal (kinda gross) rest stop with a small grocery store and bathrooms etc, but I decided to go for a walk to stretch my legs, sore and stiff from six hours of driving. I walked around the back of the building and was [almost] shocked when something whizzed past my head, narrowly missing my left ear. I hit the ground hard when I saw the second arrow come flying, and that's when I figured it was something bad. I leapt up off the cement and looked around, trying to find someone to help me fight the invisible enemy, and saw a boy around 17 come running out from the trees being chased by another arrow. He rammed into me, obviously not paying attention to where he was running and tackled me to the ground, pressing something into my neck. I tried to get up, but as the arrows kept coming he kept pressing (what I figured) was a sword against my neck, causing me to choke.

"Call them off," he growled. His voice was deep, which wasn't surprising for what I assumed his age was.

"Who?" I managed.

"The rest of your hunter friends," he sneered, flicking his light brown hair out of his blue eyes.

"I don't know who you're talking about," I choked.

"Don't play me for a fool, girl. Not when you're in this position," he said, running the flat of the smooth blade across my neck.

"Release her!" shouted a girl wielding a bow, already notched and directed at the guy. He just laughed in a way that made me more terrified.

"You think you're fooling me into thinking she's not a hunter," he chuckled, leaning back on his legs which had me pinned to the ground, and sitting on my stomach which made all of the air I had managed to breathe in escape.

I give the girl credit for not completely freaking out on the boy, whose name I still did not know.

"She is not a hunter, Carter, son of Asclepius. Let her go, her parents are waiting for her in the parking lot," she said calmly, walking towards us with her bow drawn. So, his name is Carter. I turned to see his expression and found him actually considering that I may not be what he seems to think I am.

"Wait, so, this whole Greek myths thing is real?" I asked no one in particular, just trying to sort things out.

The boy laughed at me, I could feel him shaking. "Stupid girl, you must be blind,"

"She is a maiden, therefore she is not stupid," said the hunter, defending me for which I was grateful.

"Oh, so you're a recruit then," he said thoughtfully. I tried to nod, thinking it would get me out of this situation. Instead, the boy grinned as he leaned down, and put his lips to my ear. "I think you should come with me, and nobody gets hurt," he purred, making me shiver. He laughed at that. The hunter, who I'd figured out was the girl I'd talked to back in California started objecting and calling for backup as Carter pulled me off the ground, sword to my neck once again.

"One more word from you, Zaelia, and she dies," he's growled, spitting her name. A dark look crossed her face as she spoke,

"You are a disgrace to our father, Carter," she told him, backing up and spitting his name with just enough acid that I'm sure he cringed. But it had no effect on him as he pushed me forward towards the trees where the girl -Zaelia? - had just fled, leaving me in Carter's hands. It frightened me.

I walked for a while through the trees, Carter poking me in the back with the butt of his sword to prod me along the path we were taking. I trudged along, praying for the moment when Carter would say we were where he wanted us to be. It had been silent for a long while after I'd finally stopped trying to convince him to let me go back to my parents, whom I figured would be very worried by now.

I was too busy thinking of what my parents were thinking to notice that we stopped in front of some van like thing parked on the side of a dirt road. Carter grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the two doors on the back of the van.

He opened them and searched around for a moment before finally pulling out a pair of bronze looking handcuffs. I only started to object by the time he was twisting my arms behind my back, and locking the handcuffs in place.

"Now, be a good little captive and get in," he said, using his free arm and gesturing to the back of the van which seemed to be full of miscellaneous camping equipment. I did as told and climbed in the best I could using no hands, refusing to use the help he offered. I figured I may stay alive a little longer until someone found me if I cooperated.

I settled down on a pile of black sleeping bags as he climbed in after me, and sat down very close beside me.

"Go, Alex," he said to someone I hadn't noticed sitting in the driver's seat. The boy had short black hair that was cut close to his head, and that's all I could see. Carter must've seen me staring because he smiled,

"That's Alex, he's a son of Hecate," he told me. I nodded once as the van grumbled to life, reminding me of myself too early in the morning. I noticed Carter take a zip lock bag from his jacket pocket, and hand it to Alex who then put it in the middle compartment between the front seats. I was about to question what the gold stuff in the bag was, but Carter gave me a look saying 'don't you dare ask' so I didn't.

We sat for a while, listening to the van rumble and jump every time it hit a pothole before Carter spoke again,

"So, what's your name?"

"Hailie," i grumbled. He nodded.

"And you're a hunters recruit?" he asked, sliding his arm around my shoulders. I tried my best to wiggle out, but it was near impossible.

"I guess," I replied curtly.

"Just asking, no need to be snappy," he said, chuckling as he patted my shoulder. After a while he asked another question,

"Why?"

"Why what?" I asked, half asleep (regrettably on his shoulder).

"Why would you want to be a hunter?" he asked, sounding honestly curious.

"Well, I don't know much about becoming a hunter, but I ran into them a few days ago in California and who I'm assuming was Artemis gave me a pamphlet. Then we stopped for a minute to go to the bathroom and stuff on our way back home, and I got out to stretch my legs, and you know what happened next," I told him, not sure why i was, though. He thought for a moment,

"Were you considering it?"

"I don't know, it's been in the back of my mind, but I mean, the pamphlet said that I would have to travel with them everywhere and I wouldn't know how to explain it to my parents," I said.

"Well don't. It's a waste of time," he said sharply, tightening his grip on my shoulders so much it started to hurt.

"Ow," I muttered under my breath. The grip immediately loosened. I was starting to think that this wasn't like every other captor/captive story until the van stopped abruptly, and Alex turned around,

"We're here,"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Apparently, 'here' is a camp. A camp in the middle of Idaho- about a four hour drive from where I'd been kidnapped. Not a normal camp though; a camp where demigods go when they no longer want to go to camp half blood (which is apparently where most demigods go). As Alex and Carter lead me through the camp, I got a lot of stares and one or two wolf whistles. Ugh. Carter and Alex just laughed it off but Carter looked uncomfortable.

They took me to what I assume was the head tent and took me inside. I got put on the bed as Alex hissed something to Carter and dragged him out of the tent. They started arguing about something and I only heard single words here and there, and a girls named used quite frequently; Lily. I sat silently until I heard the tent flap open and in came Carter, who looked a mix of pissed off and really upset. He walked past me without even acknowledging me and sat down on the bed across from the one I was currently occupying.

"What was that about?" I asked. He seemed to acknowledge me for the first time since re-entering the tent, and shrugged.

"An old ... Friend," he replied carefully. I figured I wasn't going to get another answer so I didn't ask any other questions. It stayed silent for a long time, and I could see Carter become fidgety as he lay on his mattress, twiddling his fingers and staring at the tent ceiling.

"You need to go," he said suddenly, jumping up from his bed and startling me so badly I fell off the bed I was on. He grabbed my still handcuffed wrists and pulled me harshly up from the tent floor. He then pulled me out of the tent and practically dragged me across the camp. We passed the archery range, the small sword sparing field, the forges, and the small dinning area before we reached a rectangle block of tents lined after each other. Some of the tents were more grouped together with a banner hanging over them with what I'm assuming was the godly parent of the kids who resided there.

I was dragged until we reached a small grouping of maybe two or three four person tents with a banner that was blood red with a boar head embroidered in the center. Ares, maybe?

"Jarred!" he called, and almost immediately a tall stocky boy with brown hair and matching eyed ran out of the tent.

"Yeah?" he asked Carter, though looking at me. Carter snapped his fingers under Jared's nose to regain his attention.

"This is Hailie. I need you to keep her under your cabins watch. She's not allowed anywhere near the archery range, the forges, or the pond, ok? I trust you -as head counsellor- to make sure she follows the rules, and to train her in sword fighting. Understood?" he asked the boy who looked like he was taking mental notes. He nodded once,

"Got it, anything else?"

"Yeah, just one thing; keep her away from me," he said bitterly. I do realize the situation I am in right now, but for some reason that hurt a little. Jarred almost didn't know what to say, so he simply nodded again, and with that, Carter walked away.

I found myself at a loss of words as jarred took me to the girls tent, and introduced me to Jenna, and Carly; otherwise known as the two Ares girls. They seemed nice enough, and even helped me pick the lock on the handcuffs. After that, we sat there for a moment in silence trying to think of something to say, when I came up with a good question,

"Do you guys know who Lily is?" I asked. There was more silence before Carly responded,

"She was a, uh daughter of Demeter,"

"Oh,"

"And Carter's old girlfriend," she finished. I felt the colour drain from my face as I realized why he had looked so mad and upset after talking with Alex.

"W-what happened?" I stumbled.

"She died," said Jenna quietly.

The last week has been not too bad, being that anyone who tries to come near me gets chewed out by Carly or Jenna, for which I'm grateful. I've learnt that jarred isn't actually that bad and he's been teaching me how to use a sword. I've already got my own too; it's from the Hephaestus guys. It's really cool, it's a black hair pin with a pearl on the end, and when I touch the pearl it turns into a light weight sword. Nothing special but it works.

I've tried my best to follow my 'rules' but sometimes I get bored, yenno? And anyways, even though I'm not half god the kids here are starting to treat me like just another camper, which is good I guess. But the one thing I just can't seem to do is stay away from the archery range; it's like a magnet. Sometimes in the middle of the night when I'm the only one up I'll sneak out of the girl's tent and snag a bow from the weapons shed and head down there. That's what I decided to do tonight, since I couldn't sleep anyways.

I got off my bed and slipped on my sneakers as I exited the tent as silently as I could. I tried not to snap any twigs as I made my way down the path in the dark towards the shed. Once there, i quickly picked the lock with my hair pin (also very handy) and slipped inside the cramped area.

It took me only seconds to find the bow and quiver I'd hidden behind the door. I snatched it from the hook and took off down the trail again.

When I got down to the range I notched my arrow and shot directly at the target, missing the bulls-eye by inches. At least i was getting better. I shot a few more arrows and retrieved them when I heard the footsteps coming down the path, so I grabbed my arrows and quickly climbed up a tree (something I've been good at since childhood).

Perched on a low branch, not wanting to risk falling but still being able to see what was going on, I waited. The person who Id heard walked into view and I had to hold in a squeal; it was Carter, of course. The only person with the chance to catch me disobeying his own rules would be Carter.

He looked around for a moment, and then walked over towards a small hole that I hadn't bothered to notice before. He took a gold shiny coin out of his pocket and threw it into the hole, saying something in Greek. A form appeared in front of him, and from what I could see, it was a middle aged man with obsidian black hair and eyes to match. His skin was very pale compared to the long black robe he was wearing. I didn't realize who it was until I heard Carter say the name, because why on earth would I expect this man to be the god of the dead?

**Yes, I'm leaving you hanging until tomorrow(: **

**~apollo122music**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yeah, I decided to update two a day until the story is finished, but I don't know how long that will be, and I start school on Thursday, so …. **

Chapter 4

They argued for a long time while I stayed frozen in my tree, trying not to make a sound. I could hear exactly what they were saying, and it sounded like they were arguing about a girl.

"Just let me see her!" begged Carter. I couldn't see his expression but his voice sounded upset. Hades sighed and finally gave in, telling Carter that he had twenty minutes, and then disappeared. In his place, stood the growing form of a girl.

With the light from the glowing girl shining on Carter's face I could finally see his expression as one of joy, like almost as if he was coming home after being away for a long time. When the girl finally fully materialized it was almost as if I was staring at a mirror image of myself with the same pin straight long blonde hair, same high bone structure, and the eyes. The eyes freaked me out the most though, because they were the exact same shade of blue, maybe hers had some teal, I couldn't tell from here. All I knew is that this girl could've been my twin.

"Carter," she said, reaching out her hand as if to touch his cheek. And then I understood. Just a split second before it was said, I knew who this girl was.

"Lily," he said, almost leaning into her non-existent touch. "I miss you,"

"I miss you too, Carter," she said, pulling her hand back to her glowing side. After she said this, Carter's expression went from longing, to drop dead serious.

"Lily, I need to ask a question," he said.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever had a sister?"

I'm not entirely sure when I fell out of the tree, but I do know that I landed on my back, knocking all of the air out of my lungs. Thankfully, I hadn't been very high up otherwise something worse would've happened other then not being able to breathe. Apparently, though, Id scared Carter so much he fell into the hole just in front of him, erasing the image of lily as he fell through it.

My first instinct would've been to make a run for it, but seeing as how I felt completely immobile, I figured it wasn't happening any time soon. Carter recovered quicker then I did, and was running to where I lay on the grass.

"What are you doing?" he yelled at me, getting down on his knees and moving my limbs to see if anything was broken.

"Ow..." I muttered, closing my eyes and clutching my left side; it felt as if it was on fire.

"Let me see..." he said, removing my hands and lifting the shirt up to the top of my ribs. Without noticing, a crowd had gathered around us in the peaking sun light. Carter's brows furrowed as he poked and prodded my side, finally coming to a conclusion as he said,

"Don't sit up; I think you broke a rib,"

"That's wonderful," I commented in a monotone. For the first time, Carter seemed to notice the people standing around us,

"Guys, don't you have training tomorrow? Counsellors take your siblings back to your tents. That's an order," he addressed the crowd, and they scattered. Now it was just us, great. Now I get to be chewed out for not following orders personally.

As I lay on the ground, I could see him pick up the bow that had fallen beside me. Evidence...

"Hailie what are you doing at the archery range at five am, up in a tree?" he asked, sighing as he collected the arrows that had fallen from the quiver and had splayed around me.

"I was uh, yenno, shooting squirrels out of the tree," I lied, feeling the blood creep to my cheeks.

"You suck at lying. Now tell me the truth," he said sternly, getting up and walking towards a small shed that housed the camps bows. He started looking around in the archery shed for something when I spoke finally,

"I couldn't sleep, so I came down here to shoot some arrows," I admitted, seeing him come out of the shed with a medium sized red and white box. I could see him shake his head as he sat down beside me on my left and opened the box, looking for something.

It was silent for a while as he searched through the box, finally coming up with a roll of cloth bandage and a little silver canteen.

"I don't see why you couldn't just simply follow my rules and stay away from the range," he said as he started unwrapping the bandage, and gently lifted my stomach and lower back off of the ground. I winced as he did so, but didn't say anything. I at least owed him that.

Before he completely covered my ribs in the bandage he unscrewed the canteen and poured some gold liquid on the already forming bruises. I think it was supposed to make it feel better, but honestly as soon as the stuff started to pool on my skin I felt as if it were going to burn right through my ribs.

"It's burning me!" I squealed, not knowing what to do to get it off of me, because I'm sure if it had touched me anywhere else, it would've been burning me there too. Carter was confused for a moment, before going into over drive.

"Crap!" he yelled, his hands flying, trying to get the burning hot golden liquid off of my skin. He tried everything, but it wouldn't work.

"I apologize," he said quickly. I was about to ask why and to tell him to get this bloody stuff off of me before it burnt completely through me, but I didn't have time to before he put his mouth to the liquid and started kissing my stomach. That was all before I realized he was trying to suck the gold stuff off.

I was speechless even after he pulled away and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"That was my fault. I should've known not to give you any nectar because you're just a mortal," he said though it sounded like he was scolding himself.

"I'm not sure whether to be offended or not," I said laughing awkwardly. Carter shook his head once, and then started to wrap the bandage again. When he was done, he cut the bandage with a pair of scissors and taped it down with medical tape. The bandage made it hard to breathe. He spoke,

"You should be ok now, just don't do anything for a few days and it'll heal. I really am sorry,"

He helped me sit up, and lean back against the tree out of which I had fallen.

"It's ok," I said quietly, looking at my hands in my lap.

"No, it's just, that girl you saw me talking to- her name was Lily. We used to date, but she died last year in a war, and I guess I'm still not really over her," he said, leaving unspoken how we look identical down to the very same pink lips.

"No, seriously it's ok," I tried to convince him, but he started speaking again,

"It's just sometimes when I see you around camp I forget that you aren't her. I guess I thought you were her when I put the nectar on you," he admitted, his voice dripping with guilt. I had no idea what to say, so I stayed silent for a long time; we both did. There was nothing more to say.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

To tell the truth, I hadn't much thought about Ben since I got here. It hasn't even crossed my mind and I haven't quite figured out if that's a bad thing yet.

It's been about two days since I fell out of the tree, and my ribs are feeling maybe a bit better, but not much. I haven't been allowed to leave the tent, which I'm all fine about since it hurts to breathe, but I've gotten kinda bored lately. I think Carter has picked up on that because he's spent more time with me in the last two days then he has since he tackled me to the cement.

Today was just another day of me sitting in the tent all alone while the Ares kids went and did their training and had fun without me, and I was alone. Not for long though, because after about an hour the tent zipped open and Carter stepped inside with a small smile on his face,

"Hey," he said, sitting down on the foot of my bed like he has been for the last few days.

"Hey," I returned with a smile.

"So what do you wanna do today?" he asked with an amused smile on his face.

"Not sure, you?"

"Let's play 20 questions," he suddenly suggested. I shrugged indifferently. "Ok, you go first," he told me.

"Ok. Umm, 1: what's your full name?"

"Carter Jordan Samuels," he answered, reddening in the cheeks.

"Awe. Ok, 2: what's your favourite colour?"

"Green,"

"3: godly parent?"

"Asclepius, god of healing and some other stuff I can't remember," he said chuckling a bit. I giggled.

"4: any siblings?"

"Um, that hunter who was chasing me; Zaelia. She's my half sister from our dad," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ok 5: real siblings?"

"Zero,"

"Ummm, favourite band or singer?"

"Well, I love Eminem and also rascal Flatts,"

"I love them," I said as I sat up a bit in my bed, "ok, um 7: what's your favourite song?"

He thought about it for a while before finally answering "When I'm Gone by Eminem,"

"Love that song. 8: favourite sport?"

"I used to play soccer. I still love it," he told me almost longingly.

"9: when did you find out you were a demigod?" I asked, trying to think of some real questions.

"When I was fourteen, I was claimed and my mom sent me to ChB,"

"Oh. Ok, um, 10: how old are you?" i asked because I honestly didn't know.

"I'm 16, what about you?" he said.

"I'm going to be 16 in March," I replied back, "11: when's your birthday?"

"December 13th, '95,"

"Nice. Ok um can we make this 15 questions? And that doesn't count," I said laughing at the end.

He shrugged, "sure,"

"Ok 12: why were you being chased by your sister?" I asked, remembering how he had sprinted from the woods being chased by arrows.

"Oh. That. Well the camp was running low on ambrosia, so I stole some from their supply," he said sheepishly. I clucked my tongue a few times before laughing to show I was only kidding.

"13: when did you decide to leave ChB?" I asked curiously, finding that I knew almost nothing about Carter.

"Last august," he said quietly, looking down at his twiddling hands.

"Why?" I asked, leaning towards him.

"Because of the Titan war," he murmured.

"Nobody's told me anything about that. What happened?" I asked quietly.

"The Titan lord Kronos started to rise again when demigods started resenting their godly parents for numerous reasons, and a boy named Percy Jackson stopped him. But only after Kronos had like, hypnotized a bunch of unclaimed demigods, and monsters into believing that he was going to redeem them from their parent, and make things right in the demigod world. He convinced one of my old best friends Luke to recruit demigods and monsters alike to fight with him, and in the end, he took over Luke's body and he sacrificed himself to save pretty much the world," he told me in almost an upset whisper. I sat there in silence for a minute just trying to soak in everything that Carter had just told me.

"That's... Terrible," i finally concluded.

"Last question?" he asked.

"W-what happened to Lily?" I asked carefully. I could tell I'd caught him off guard with my question, but i wanted to know.

"S-she died in the war. She was leading an attack with her half sister Katie and got an arrow in the chink of her armour. She died almost instantly," he replied with his eyes closed, and hands on his face. I had no idea what to do, other then scoot towards him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

We sat there for a long time just doing nothing, with my hand on his shoulder. It was absolutely still for a moment, and then everything happened all too quickly.

Yelling erupted outside the tent, and I could hear battle strategies being shouted demigod to demigod. Carter jumped up, and so did I (though quite frankly it hurt ... A lot). We ran out of the tent, and I wasn't the least bit confused; camp half blood had come to my rescue.

You might be wondering how I knew that. Well. As soon as I stepped out of the tent, I heard people I didn't know shouting my name. Carter clutched my hand as he looked around frantically,

"All campers report to front lines!" he shouted. I cringed as the sound attacked my eardrums. Carter gave me an apologetic glance before pulling his sword out of its pocket-knife form, twisting my hands behind my back, and once again putting me in the familiar situation of having a sword pressed against my neck. As he walked me towards the border line of the camp I could tell his heart wasn't in having me as a captive again, and plus, my ribs hurt.

As soon as we stopped, I could see a group of three campers looking kind of scraggly and disoriented being cornered into the side of a hill signifying the entrance to the camp. I could see dashes of silver in amongst the trees, but kept silent. Well, that is until I saw who was amongst the group of three being cornered; Ben.

Under normal circumstances I would've freaked out, and demanded what the hell he was doing here, but in the last week I'd learnt to deal with things that would have usually given me a heart attack. Before I could really stop myself, I heard myself whimper his name.

Almost as if he'd heard me, his head turned and we locked eyes. I could see his sword drop to his side, and a pained expression appeared on his face. Carter noticed this little exchange and I felt his grip go slack, then tighten up again,

"You know Ben?" he hissed in my ear. I felt myself nod in response. "How?"

"He's my ... Boyfriend?" I answered, but it sounded more like a question. His sword dropped from my neck, and I could see Ben's expression become more of a relaxed version of fear. If that's possible...?

"Well," Carter said, turning me around to face him. I could tell what was coming before he even made the first move, but what shocked me was that I made no motion to stop him from kissing me.

Through the kiss I heard a yell of frustration, and I knew it had to have been Ben. There was a whistling sound of a silver arrow slicing through the air a split second before it lodged in Carter's arm, breaking apart the kiss from which I couldn't escape. I gasped to catch my breath as I ripped myself away from his shocked body; fingers stumbling to pull the arrow out.

I kept stumbling backwards until I felt a pair of strong arms around me, pulling me back across the boundary line. For a moment all I could imagine was that this person was meaning to do me harm, so I screamed. My scream was quickly cut off by a hand, and so then I started kicking. I could tell it was a guy behind me from the strength and size of his hands, so I kicked backwards, and was immediately let go as I heard a groan and the sound of someone hitting the ground.

I turned around, only to find a boy with absolute jet black hair and eyes as green as the sea rolling around on the grassy ground. I gasped, having realized that he wasn't someone from this camp, but from camp half blood. I knelt down and stopped him from rolling long enough for me to ask his name,

"Percy... Jackson," he groaned. I backed up so quickly it was as though he had sent a huge electric shock coursing through my body; I had just sacked the person who saved the world last summer. Before I knew it I was stammering out apologies, and the boy just rolled for a moment before a blonde girl approached me from behind the tree line. She had slate coloured eyes.

"You must be Hailie?" she asked, her voice having the tone of when a person knows they're smart.

"Y-yeah,"

She smiled and helped Percy up off of the ground, never letting go of his hand, "I'm Annabeth, head counsellor of the Athena cabin at camp half blood," she said, extending a hand. I shook, and winced at the pain it sent shooting down my rib cage.

"Are you alright?" she asked me.

I shook my head no before lifting up the hem of my shirt to reveal the brilliant white bandage. Her face visibly paled as she and Percy exchanged a look,

"What happened?" asked Percy worriedly.

"I broke a few ribs falling out of a tree," I replied, blushing. Their expressions seemed to relax as they both chuckled.

"Bet it hurts," said Annabeth. I shrugged.

Suddenly, there was a bunch of yelling from behind me and for the first time since Percy had grabbed me; I remembered that there was a fight going on. I whipped around to see a bunch of people surrounding a boy who lay on the ground with blood pooling around their side. I didn't know who it was, but it sent a bad feeling shooting straight down my spine, and on instinct I ran over to the group of people, pushing my way through.

I was kneeling beside the boy before I even realized it was Carter lying on the ground with a deep slash running the length of his right side.

"Hailie!" I heard someone call my name, "Hailie!" they cried again, this time pulling me backwards. I started fighting against the person, not really sure what was going on anymore. Then in mere seconds the person had me on my feet and running towards the forest being followed by two others, and then Percy and Annabeth as we reached the tree line.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I was engulfed in a hug that seemed to be crushing my ribs one by one sending shooting pain down my entire left side.

"Let go of her ribs!" cried Annabeth, tearing the boy off of me. The second Ben's arms weren't crushing my body; I fell to the ground and blacked out.

When I awoke in a crisp white room with matching beds, I thought I'd died. It sure felt like it. But when I saw the blurry people sitting beside me I knew all of them couldn't be dead too.

"Finally," whispered a boy to my right, clutching my hand that was attached to an iv tube. I blinked a few times and everyone came into focus. There was Annabeth, Percy, Ben, a boy with curly hair and brown eyes similar to Ben's, but Latino, and a boy with jet black hair and matching obsidian eyes. I knew who he was first, because I'd seen his father.

"You scared the Hades out of us for a while there," said the Latino boy. I must've given him a weird look, because he smiled sheepishly and stuck out his hand introducing himself as Leo Valdez, head counsellor of the Hephaestus cabin.

"Hi," I said, taking my hand back to my side and looking around the room. "So where are ...we?" I asked.

"Camp half blood's infirmary," replied Percy in a proud tone. I nodded and lay back against my pillows, suddenly feeling the pain in my ribs. I must've cringed because suddenly Ben said,

"There was nothing we could do about your ribs. I'm so sorry I really didn't know,"

I just grimaced as his hand squeezed mine, "its ok," I mumbled. It was quiet for a moment before I spoke again,

"Ben I think you need to introduce yourself," I decided. His expression was confused for a moment before he finally got it. He coughed,

"I'm Benjamin Ramsay, son of Nemesis, and second in command," he said, extending his hand for me to shake. I shook his hand before pulling him down towards me, and giving him a sort of half hug.

"I was so worried," he whispered into my ear, "I didn't know where you were, I didn't know if he'd kept you alive... It was horrible,"

"I-I know," I stuttered. Somebody coughed, and we broke apart from our embrace. It was the son of Hades. He stuck out his hand,

"Nico Di Angelo, head counsellor of Hades," he mumbled as I shook his hand.

"Hi,"

He dropped my hand, and sat back in his chair.

"So... Um..." I looked at everyone sitting around me for something to talk about, "I only know your name," I decided, pointing at Percy. I heard everyone groan. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm Perseus Jackson, son and counsellor of Poseidon and hero of Olympus," he bragged proudly. Annabeth smacked him on the arm,

"No needs to brag seaweed brain, we all are," she said to him as though scolding a two year old. He cracked a grin, and pecked her on the cheek,

"I know,"

Everyone around me gagged, and I laughed. Just then, the door of the infirmary opened and in rolled a man in a wheelchair. He rolled over to my bedside where Nico had made room for him, and smiled at me almost wearily.

"Hello child, I am Chiron, the camps activity director. Welcome to camp half blood," he said.

"Hi," I said, still wondering why he was looking at me like that.

"Chiron, what are you doing here?" asked Leo, who'd pretty much stayed silent the entire time I'd been awake, which I could sense was unusual.

He sighed, and looked at me, "I am afraid to report that the gods have summoned you to Olympus, Hailie Marshall. You will be required to appear in the throne room as soon as you are ready to present yourself to the counsel of Olympians," he told me, before rolling backwards and out the door.

Everyone was deathly silent for more then a minute.

"This is bad," muttered Annabeth. Everyone nodded in agreement,

"Really, really bad," continued Percy.

I watched the girl in the mirror for any signs of fear, but found an expressionless face instead. A boy walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He rested his head on her shoulder and watched her expression in the mirror.

"It's going to be ok," he promised her. I watched as she shook her head, and leaned back against his body,

"I don't like this," she said.

"What?" the boy asked.

"Us not being ... Us," she told him, closing her light blue eyes.

"In what way?"

"You never notice me around school. It hurts," I murmured.

"I just ... I don't want you to live like I do. You have real friends who know you, and I don't. I don't want you to be popular; I don't want you to be influenced by those girls. I love you too much to watch you go through something like that. Sometimes it just ... It feels better keeping us in the dark," he admitted, turning me around in his arms. I looked up at him and for the first time, I saw the boy I think i loved.

"I-I guess," I agreed, giving into his arms and leaning my head against his chest. We stood there for a moment, in the infirmary bathroom where Annabeth had given me some clothes to change into.

"You should go now," he whispered to me softly, pulling back.

"Come with me?" I asked, feeling so vulnerable it scared me.

"I don't know how far I'll get, but i will," he told me, taking my hand and leading me out of the bathroom. As we were about to leave, a blonde haired boy stopped us,

"Hailie, I need to change your bandage," he said awkwardly. I sighed as I dropped Ben's hand and walked over towards my bed and lay down. The boy came beside me and instructed me to roll up my shirt to where the bandage began (the top of my ribs), so I did.

"Ok, just lift up your stomach ... Yeah. Ok. Thanks," he mumbled as he began to undress the bandage under Ben's intensive stare. After it was clear, I looked down to see the bruising was getting better, but my whole side was still blue and purple. As the boy re-bandaged my ribs, I could've sworn I saw Ben's hands clench as the boys hands wrapped around and around my waist, and I rolled my eyes.

When the boy finished taping, I got up off the bed, pulling my shirt down, and walked towards Ben. We were about to leave, but I stopped and turned around,

"What's your name?" I asked the blonde boy.

"Jake," he said shyly.

"Thanks Jake," I said before walking out the door hand in hand with Ben.

"Thank you," he said randomly as we walked up the hill.

"For what?" I asked.

"Telling Jake thank you. He's a kid of Asclepius. Kids of minor gods never really get any appreciation," he told me, "I would know,"

"I... It felt like I should've thanked him, is all," I told him, watching my feet climb the hill.

Once we were back down the other side of the hill, we climbed into the camps strawberry van, and the security guard started driving us into Manhattan. Did you know that Olympus is on top of the empire state building? Yeah I totally knew that. Right.

The ride was about four hours of silence because nobody really felt like talking about what was going to happen once we got there. But then again, nobody really knew what was about to happen either.

Ben walked me to the doors of the empire state building, and held one open for me as I walked in. We walked up to the desk, and he asked for a key to the 600th floor. The guy rolled his eyes and came up with a golden key card, handing it to Ben. We walked to the elevator, waited for it to open, and stepped inside once it did. Ben slid the key in an invisible spot, and pressed the gold button that appeared. The elevator started to climb and we look at each other from across the small room, and for the first time I realized that I have no idea what the counsel will say, I have no idea what will happen to me after this; it scares me to be honest.

We locked eyes as the elevator dinged for the four-hundredth floor, and I felt a small wet tear make its way down my left cheek. In an instant, he was in front of me, pressing my body gently back against the wall with his own as his thumb wiped away the salt water trickle.

"Please, please don't cry," he whispered, sounding on the verge of tears himself. I searched his eyes for motivation to not cry, and for any reason, I couldn't find one. More tears spilled down my cheeks as I gave in to his body and felt myself go slack in his arms.

I hated feeling so vulnerable, but at this moment I could only think of what may be to come once this elevator stops, and I have to leave Ben here, waiting for someone who might not come back. I was jerked from my thoughts when the elevator stuttered to a halt on floor 512, though the number four was also illuminated. Ben and I both stared at the numbers almost not believing our own eyes. 04 512, as in the fifth month of the year on the twelfth day in two-thousand and four.

"Aphrodite," he muttered to himself.

"It's the day we met, may twelfth, 2004," I whispered, realizing the love goddesses intention.

"Why does she want us to remember?" he asked, his brows furrowing. Sudden realization dawned on me,

"We've known each other for seven years today," I breathed. This hit Ben hard, like he'd been punched in the stomach.

"I-I promised myself something that day," he whispered quietly.

"What?" I asked as he took a step backwards as if to balance himself.

"I promised myself that ... By the time we were fifteen, I would've kissed you," he told me, backing up against the wall on the other side of the tiny room. I slid down the wall, and found myself sitting with my knees to my chest, just trying to take in what Ben had just said.

"Well... Y-you still haven't made good on that promise," I said, looking at my hands, "But I don't expect you to," I continued, feeling like a fool.

"Aphrodite isn't going to let us leave here until I do," he admitted, "if I'd only known she'd heard me make that promise when I was EIGHT for gods' sakes," he scolded himself. I stayed silent, not wanting to let it show that I wouldn't mind if he made good on that promise, either.

"I need to do it," he said determined. He pushed himself off of the wall and crossed the three steps it took to get to where I was sitting. He crouched down beside me, lifted my chin with his hand, and kissed me right on the lips. At first I felt like I had when Carter had surprised me with a kiss, but it changed very suddenly, and the elevator binged again. Ben pulled away from me, and sat back on his heels, breathing hard.

"I-I shouldn't have," he scolded himself. "I'm really-" he started again, but didn't get very far when my lips interrupted his.

He gave in and gently pushed me back against the wall, moving his hands to cup my cheeks. Our lips moved together and It was like I had an epiphany. All those nights of wondering why it had to be this boy, Benjamin. Always wondering why, but never getting any answers. They all made sense now, no matter how cheesy that sounds.

Our lips broke only after the elevator doors parted, revealing a very excited love goddess. I blushed crimson as I felt Ben's hands leave my face, and the pressure of his body leave mine. He stood up, and offered me a hand which I gratefully took, and we stepped outside to meet the love goddess.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As Aphrodite looked me over in front of her giant god sized mirror, I couldn't help but think of the kiss with Ben which had only taken place ten minutes ago. His hands had felt warm on my cheeks, and not overly calloused. His lips were cool against my own, but only for the split second before his fruity breath hit my nostrils.

"Honey, if you keep thinking about Benjamin then I'm not sure we can pull off this innocent act," she told me like she was scolding a four year old. I felt blood rush to my face as she pulled a white dress from one of a million racks that inhabited this entire room.

She held it up against my body, humming and hawing, and finally decided that pure white wasn't my color, and opted for a light, light green chiton instead. The dress itself was almost an exact replica of the one she was wearing with few differences. I undressed and slipped the dress on like instructed before taking a seat in front of a vanity the size of my room.

She started twisting and positioning my hair, then dabbed some makeup on my face, did a twirl to the racks of shoes and pulled down a pair of bronze coloured Grecian Sandals, tying them up my legs for me. She stood me up, looked me up and down once more before kissing my cheek good luck and sending me down a hallway full of tile mosaics that depicted numerous scenes with the gods and others alike.

I wandered down the hallway until I found a door marked in Greek. I heard voices coming from inside, and turned the bronze knob until the door flew open, and I was standing a bit to the left of the throne room where someone was being judged by the gods. From the unfriendly tone they were using while discussing this person, I figured that they would not fare so well, for most of the words the gods were saying involved thievery. Except for who I think was Hermes, maybe, the gods didn't seem too thrilled about this person.

I don't exactly know who spotted me first, who i assumed were Apollo or Demeter, but both had the reaction;

"Lily?"

As each of the gods turned their heads, the room grew more chaotic. First, Demeter burst out crying, and Apollo was trying to comfort her, and then the other gods started yelling at each other about how this was possible, _then_, I think Hades might've had a bit of a mental breakdown, because Lily is supposed to be dead. The boy who was being judged turned to face me, and the expression on his face was that he already knew who the gods were arguing about before he saw it with his own eyes.

He wasn't wearing a shirt, and had a big white bandage down his left side, where I could see little blots of blood that had soaked through the cotton. He looked me up and down just as I did the same, though suddenly I was really embarrassed to be wearing this dress. Then suddenly,

"HEY!" Artemis shouted, letting out a bit of her pent up frustration from the years of fighting with her family. The gods sat back in their thrones, still muttering death threats to each other as Artemis beckoned me to the center of the room. "This girl is not Lily Richard. This girl is the mortal who he had kidnapped," she told them, gesturing to Carter and me in turn. Poseidon looked thoughtful for a moment,

"Ah, yes, Hailie is it? Percy has told me about you," he said, cracking a small lopsided grin. I blushed, remembering how I'd first met the hero of Olympus.

"So, this is the mortal girl who caused such an enormous uproar here on Olympus?" asked Zeus. I nodded, not sure what else to do.

"Well she sure is pretty," murmured Apollo to Hermes beside him, who nodded. Artemis heard Apollo, and shushed them, slapping Apollo on the arm.

"This girl is a mortal," pointed out a goddess who looked just like Annabeth. Athena, maybe, "She should not be here, nor know of our existence. She may be a potential threat," she said absentmindedly, looking me over. Zeus nodded, while Poseidon and Artemis tried to object. Hades was still silent, glaring at the space above my head. I now had a new-found hatred of Annabeth's mother.

"Should we dispose of her?" asked Zeus. My vision went kind of funny, and I heard some of the gods murmur and agreement, but then Apollo spoke up,

"Hey, whoever's making her dizzy, stop it,"

I heard a woman chuckle, and a few groans.

"You're not funny, Hera," said another male god, and someone snapped their fingers. My vision went back to normal, and I found myself kneeling on the floor. I looked up and saw that Carter had a firm expression on his face as he watched the gods make a fool out of me. I stood up shakily, and spoke in the most respectful tone I could manage,

"I didn't mean any harm, it just sort of happened," I pleaded to Zeus, who still looked rather unhappy.

"Artemis? You say that you met her before this happened?" he asked, his eyes never leaving mine, making me rather uncomfortable.

"Yes," she said in a kind voice, "I misplaced some of my hunters in a national park in California, and she helped them. She seemed troubled and lost, so I asked her what was wrong, and gave her a pamphlet for the hunters and helped her back to her family," she told Zeus. He thought for a moment.

"Well, what are we going to do with her?" suddenly asked a god with a short brown buzz cut. He sounded rather aggravated.

"I think … We should give her two options," said Athena thoughtfully, "One, she is disposed of in an un-painful manner, or two, she can become a huntress with Artemis," she decided. I didn't like these options, quite frankly. A few gods started to object, but Athena silenced them and continued speaking, "But someone shall decide for her,"

There were shouts from all around the room, more or less from the gods who were on my side, from what I knew. I stood there for a few minutes while the yelling went on, just trying to get over how cruel Athena was being. That's when I shouted,

"I didn't want to be dragged into this!" and the gods fell silent. Every. Last. _One_. Athena looked extremely offended, and was about to say something that would probably be an ancient curse that would kill me, but Demeter spoke up, her voice hoarse from sobbing,

"Please, Athena, she did not want this," she begged. Athena's eyes didn't become less murderous, but she spoke calmly,

"I've heard that a son of Nemesis is her companion. Summon him, for he shall make the final decision," she said firmly. My head started to pound, and I'm sure I swayed. This entire time, Carter had been watching me being picked on by Athena, and he hadn't said a word, but I guess I deserved it. Hermes snapped his fingers, and a loud bang, and a poof of smoke appeared in front of me before I saw Ben standing there as the smoke dissipated.

"Son of Nemesis!" boomed Zeus. Ben looked around, really confused, but Zeus continued, "We have summoned you here to decide the fate of Hailie Marshall," he told Ben, and Ben flipped out.

"What!" he yelled, spinning around to see me standing there, tears in my eyes. This isn't what I'd wanted at all. I nodded once, and he engulfed me in a hug. I didn't even care if my ribs were burning.

"Oh my gods," he murmured over and over into my ear. Just hearing his voice made the barrier break and the tears fell free. I swear I even felt a drop of wetness hit my cheek that weren't my own. "Is it bad?" he asked, his voice wobbling.

"I guess it depends," was all I could say. Zeus coughed, and we immediately separated, standing side by side holding hands. Zeus spoke,

"What is your name, boy?" he demanded.

"Benjamin," he answered in a calm tone.

"Benjamin, you are to decide the fate of Hailie," he instructed. Ben nodded, "your options are as followed; she will become a hunter of Artemis, and be forbidden to see you for the rest of your time on earth-"

"You didn't say that!" I interrupted. Artemis shook her head, eyes wide. Zeus's hand twitched almost as if to summon his lightning, but he began to talk, "Or, she will be disposed of in an un-painful manner," he finished, his eye twitching slightly. Ben's hand squeezed mine hard, assessing the options.

"If … can … Will you allow us to have a day to say goodbye to her friends and family?" he asked cautiously. Athena was about to speak, but Poseidon cut her off,

"Brother Zeus, that only seems fair," he pleaded my case. Zeus thought for another moment, then finally answered,

"You may have exactly twelve hours to say goodbye to your friends and family," he determined. This was such good news at the moment I almost smiled. Almost.

"I…. I choose option one," Ben said without hesitation.

I wanted to die, right then and there. It would've been better then living, and not being able to see Ben for the rest of his life.

"Ben," I whimpered. He turned to me, and for the first time I saw a Ben that I didn't like. His eyes were streaming with tears, and his lips formed an unusually straight line.

**Only one chapter today, sorry ): I haven't finished chapter 8 yet :P I might have time to finish it tomorrow, and it's probably going to be the end of the story, because I start school on Thursday, and then I start training again on Monday (I'm a swimmer), and then I'll be at the pool 6 days a week. So I'll try and finish it tomorrow, and if I don't maybe on the weekend. Sorry!**

**~apollo122music**


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